US court rejects Apple's bid to raise damages in Samsung case

A U.S. federal court has ruled Samsung Electronics Co did not willfully infringe on some of Apple Inc's patents and denied a request by the U.S. technology giant to raise damages awarded to it in its legal fight against the South Korean firm, court documents showed.

Apple had sought to raise the $1.05 billion damages awarded to it after a U.S. jury found in August that Samsung acted willfully when it violated several of Apple's patents, a finding that could have formed the basis to triple the damages owed by Samsung.

"To the extent that Apple does address lost downstream sales, Apple discusses only Samsung's gains and makes no attempt to identify any specific losses Apple has suffered," U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh wrote in her ruling.

Koh said the jury, which had examined the case earlier, had ample opportunity to compensate Apple for Samsung's use of its product designs.

Koh said the court could not enhance the damages "given that Apple has not clearly shown how it has in fact been undercompensated for the losses it has suffered due to Samsung's dilution of its" patents.

In a series of rulings filed late on Tuesday U.S. time, Koh also denied requests from both Samsung and Apple for a new trial. Samsung had said a major patent verdict in favor of Apple should be overturned.

Apple had sought a new trial to overturn some of the jury's findings and to try other issues on which the jury failed to rule.

The judge also denied Apple's motion for judgment that Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 infringes a patent that relates to the iPad design. The jury earlier exonerated Samsung on the patent used to ban Galaxy Tab 10.1 sales.

Apple and Samsung have been fighting toe-to-toe in a global patent dispute that mirrors the struggle for industry supremacy between the two companies that together control more than half of worldwide smartphone sales.

The case in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California is Apple Inc. vs. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd et al, 11-1846.